Parvez Rasool has learned to keep his emotions in check the hard way, espeically when being delivered good news. Last season, the Jammu & Kashmir all-rounder was given his first IPL contract with the Pune Warriors. He ended up spending the season in dug-outs rather than out on the field, as he was selected to represent the franchise in just two matches.

Similarly, when he was chosen in India’s one-day squad for the tour of Zimbabwe in June last year, all of J&K celebrated. After all, it wasn’t everyday that a player from the northern-most Indian state was chosen to represent the country in cricket. But even that high was later seen as a low as he returned from Zimbabwe without a single game under his belt.

So, when he was told on Thursday (on his 25th birthday) that the Sunrisers Hyderabad had bought him for Rs 95 lakh, Rasool took the news with a pinch of salt. “Hopefully I will get more game-time,” he said, while speaking to The Indian Express. “I played just two matches last year. It was very frustrating.”

While Rasool was understandably cautious with his remarks, his state’s chief minister, Omar Abdullah, wasn’t. On his Twitter account, Abdullah wrote: “Very pleased to hear Parvez Rasool has been picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 95 lakhs. Here’s hoping he gets more games than when with Pune.”

Rasool, too, echoed his CM’s thoughts. “I hope to become a regular. And I hope to do so by performing well,” he said. But there is one silver lining assured in this stint that did not happen during his Pune or Zimbabwe days. At his disposal in the SRH dressing room is VVS Laxman, the batting consultant, a man Rasool only dreamed of consulting.

“It will be a real honour and privilege to work under Laxman sir,” he said.